


Butterflies

by Thunderfire69



Series: IronStrange Week 2019 [2]
Category: Avengers, Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Doctor Strange - Fandom, Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Butterflies, Fluff, Getting Together, IronStrange Week, IronStrange week day two, M/M, Magical Diseases, except this one’s harmless, oblivious idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-06 19:19:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18857434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderfire69/pseuds/Thunderfire69
Summary: My prompt fill for day two of IronStrange week.Stephen gets worried when butterflies start randomly bursting from his hands.





	Butterflies

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [【授翻】蝴蝶/Butterflies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19147951) by [Clover_cherik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clover_cherik/pseuds/Clover_cherik)



“Out here again, Strange?” Tony’s voice made the sorcerer jump, and he turned from where he stood outside the Compound to face the shorter man. The two stood on a balcony that overlooked the only garden near the compound; Stephen found himself here a lot, the peacefulness of the place reminding him a little of Kamar Taj and a  _ lot  _ of the Sanctum.

 

“It’s calming. Peaceful,” Stephen said in reply, looking slightly guilty. “Sometimes in there can get a little much.”

 

“The Avengers are a handful,” Tony agreed, taking the couple of paces forwards to lean on the balcony railing, placing his chin in his hands.

 

“One of them more than the rest,” Stephen said with a sideways glance at Tony. The genius looked offended, and as if he was about to reply when a small, blue butterfly erupted from Stephen’s hand, fluttering over to land on Tony’s shoulder.

 

“What…?” Tony looked at Stephen for explanation, but the sorcerer just stared at the butterfly.

 

“I didn’t even cast a single spell,” Stephen murmured softly. Tony gave Stephen a look of alarm.

 

“There’s not something wrong, is there? A spell that’s been cast on you or something?”

 

“I check myself daily for curses and spells,” Stephen replied, looking troubled. “I think I’d know if there was a spell cast over me… still, I’ll get Wong to check me over too.”

 

“That’s a good idea,” Tony said in agreement. “You might wanna get it checked out soon though, before-”

 

He was cut off as a second butterfly erupted from Stephen’s fingertips, this time green, and it cluttered over to settle next to the blue one on Tony’s shoulder.

 

“-before that happens again,” Tony finished pointlessly. Stephen watched the new butterfly with a worried gaze.

 

“I’ll go to Wong now,” he said, and Tony seemed to hesitate before nodding his agreement. Stephen glanced at the butterflies on Tony’s shoulder one last time before opening a portal to the Sanctum; with a small wave of farewell at Tony he stepped through.

 

“Wait!”

 

Stephen turned at Tony’s voice. “Yes, Stark?”

 

“These…” Tony gestured at the two butterflies on his shoulder. “These won’t hurt me, right?”

 

Stephen studied them for a moment. “I don’t think so,” he replied before closing the portal; he could have sworn he heard a sarcastic “ _ greaaaaat _ ” from Tony before it fully shut. Stephen immediately set off to find Wong, which didn’t take that long considering the other sorcerer was blasting Beyoncé, as usual.

 

“Wong!” Stephen yelled over the music, and was thankful that he heard him immediately and turned the music down. Stephen couldn’t count how many times he’d had to yell Wong’s name over and over for ten minutes before the other sorcerer finally heard.

 

“Do you have a good reason for interrupting me today, Stephen?” Wong asked, sounding irritated, but Stephen knew that was just because he had to pause Beyoncé.

 

“I’ve got a problem. I don’t know if it’s dangerous or not.”

 

“What problem?” Wong turned his chair to face Stephen more. “You get yourself cursed by some more powerful sorcerer?”

 

At that moment, another butterfly erupted from Stephen’s hands, this time red; it fluttered around the room for a minute before it found a slightly open window to fly out of. Stephen gestured at where it had disappeared.

 

“ _ That  _ problem,” he said. Wong burst out laughing, and Stephen just stared at him.

 

“ _ What _ ?” Stephen demanded after a few moments.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Stephen,” Wong said after a minute, still laughing.

 

“So then why do butterflies keep magically appearing from my hands?” Stephen asked, sounding irritated.

 

“It’s a thing that’s happened to a lot of sorcerers…” Wong trailed off as he searched through a pile of books beside him, and he pulled one free of the stack. “Ah, here it is.”

 

Wong flicked it open to a page somewhere in the middle, and slid it towards 

Stephen. He leaned over to read it with an irritated glance at Wong.

 

_ Sometimes, when desperately in love with another but hasn’t revealed it, a sorcerer can have butterflies burst from their hands at random intervals. These butterflies will hover around the person this sorcerer desires. If the sorcerer does not confess their love within a week of a butterfly emerging, that butterfly will die. This is not harmful to the sorcerer, however- _

 

Stephen looked up at Wong, not bothering to read any more. He ignored a golden butterfly that erupted from his fingertips. “So this is all because…”

 

“You’re secretly in love with someone, yes,” Wong finished for him. “And I’d bet it’s Tony Stark.”

 

“Am I  _ that  _ obvious?” Stephen asked, sounding wounded.

 

“To everyone except him? Yeah.” Wong turned to start playing his music again, then gave Stephen a sideways glance. “What are you hanging around for? You’ve got your answer.”

 

Stephen politely flipped Wong off for that, and the other sorcerer merely chuckled before beginning to blast his music again. Knowing that Wong had said all he was going to say, Stephen opened a portal back to the compound.

 

Stepping through, he found Tony still out on the balcony, with the two butterflies that had burst from Stephen’s hands in the Sanctum now beside the first two on Tony’s shoulder. Then the shorter man spotted him, and Stephen noticed the worry still present on his face.

 

“Did you find out what’s up with these?” Tony asked, sounding less worried than he looked as he gestured to the four butterflies on his shoulder. It was then that a fifth butterfly, this time purple, burst from the centre of Stephen’s palm and settled beside the others on Tony’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah,” Stephen said, casting his gaze at the ground. “It’s nothing harmful- in fact, Wong said it’s pretty common in sorcerers.”

 

“Okay, so…?” Tony trailed off, an unspoken question of what it was hanging in the air between them for a moment. Stephen exhaled, knowing he couldn’t avoid it any longer, and looked up to meet Tony’s gaze.

 

“It happens when a sorcerer… is secretly in love with someone. And hasn’t told them,” Stephen began, not quite ready to mention it was Tony.

 

“Then why are they hanging around m- wait.” Realisation dawned on Tony’s face, and Stephen stared down at the ground, unwilling to meet his eyes any longer. 

 

“They hang around the person you’re in love with, don’t they?” Tony asked quietly, and Stephen just nodded, still staring down at the ground.

 

“Yeah,” the sorcerer said quietly, unable to bring himself to say anything more. It turned out he didn’t have to; Tony reached out to take his hands in his own, and Stephen looked up, startled. It was only seconds later that Tony was pressing his lips to Stephen’s, and that registered something in Stephen’s brain because  _ holy shit  _ Tony was kissing  _ him _ .

 

After it actually hit him, he kissed back, putting all the love and affection he’d had hidden (or not so well hidden, according to Wong) into this one kiss. It was languid and gentle and everything Stephen had ever dreamed of. It eventually came to an end, but Tony didn’t let go of Stephen’s hands.

 

“Love you too, you dumb wizard,” Tony said quietly, and Stephen’s eyes widened slightly; then he pulled the shorter man in close to kiss him again.

 

“Then why does-” Stephen broke off for a second as a fourth butterfly, this one yellow, burst from his hands. “-this keep happening?”

**Author's Note:**

> I could write more of this au, maybe a full proper fic of it dragging it out more? Idk.


End file.
